Women's Lib...What a Rip Off

I want a do-over. I need a do-over. If I could just go back...all the way back...and have the Word of God in my life from the get-go.

Women's lib? Be independent! Take care of #1. Climb the corporate ladder. Have money. Have things. The world is your playground. Do what makes you feel good. I'm O.K./You're O.K. Don't let a man stand in your way. Demand equal pay. Demand equal rights.

Whoever started the bra burning campaign to have women replace men in the world, I would like to punch right in the nose. We've been climbing for about 50 years. How is that working for us girls? We are over-worked, over-scheduled, over-stressed, financially unstable, on the verge of a nervous breakdown with great lip gloss, shoes, and handbags that say...I am great!

How is all that Prozac working for you, Ms. Woman's Lib? Have you figured out just the right amount of vodka to drink in the course of the day to be productive, but too numb to feel? Have you isolated yourself to the point no one can reach you, even though you are always in a crowd? Have you enjoyed the benefits of Eve replacing Adam?

Now, please do not misunderstand me, and if you already hit exit I will be forever misunderstood. The Proverbs 31 woman had it going on...both at home and at work. I am not saying to be Godly is to be Betty Crocker. I am certainly not saying to be Godly is to submit to the ungodly. I am saying God created man. God created woman. God instituted marriage very early on. He did not just create us and then say, "Hey, watch Oprah and figure all this out." God has left us with scripture to give us explicit instruction on how to be happy and blessed in our marriages. God's way leads to fulfilment; the world's way leads to depression, anxiety, and self destructive behaviors.

I am a very, very strong and independent woman. I am well-educated. I am a career girl. I have made a wreck out of my marriage because I did not know what God said about my role. I didn't even know He said anything about my role in marriage. I am not the head of my household. Even as I type the words, the old me battles to disagree. Let me say it again. I am not the head of my household. My husband is. My husband is to be our spiritual leader, financial provider, and decision maker. That does not mean I don't have good ideas. That does not mean I can't express my wants and opinions. My husband loves that I am a thinker. Bless his heart, he sometimes loves that I express every thought in my head.

In God's economy there are some very clear cut rules. Marriage is between a man and a woman. Sex is to be the gift of intimacy and relationship and expression between a husband and his wife. Sex is to be enjoyed. Sex is to be great and wonderful and private...as in please stop doing it on every T.V. show, commercial, and movie known to man. According to God's will, the man loves his wife, treasures his wife, cares for his wife, provides for his wife. The wife loves her man. Takes care of her man. Raises the children. These things can all happen if just the husband works or if both of you work. God' s plan can be fulfilled if neither of you work.

What we have to realize is that our actions do not set the stage. God set the stage. It is my attitude, my thought, and my withholding love from my spouse because the world has an agenda anti-God. It does not matter what our W2's say...unless I think my W2 structures my family. It doesn't matter what whose job titles are, or the size of our offices, or who has a company vehicle. The man has a purpose. The woman has a purpose. God's plan is to bless it, but He cannot bless what goes against Him.

I so wish I could do things over. I would trade vacations, cars, homes, stuff for peace, joy, and contentment any day. Again, I am not saying you can't be rich and be Godly. You absolutely can. However, the mindset must be that all things good come from God...not from you. You, Ms. Christian (talking to myself here), did not earn a job, get yourself a promotion, land a good salary. You did not pick the right man, create the right child/children. ALL things good come from God. We should be so thankful of our many blessings...in good times and bad.

This life is not heaven. There will be times of trouble. However, you can have God every step of the way IF you don't block Him out or separate yourself from Him. Girls, let's put our bras back on. In fact, let's put a whole lot of clothes back on. Let's let our husbands lead. Let them care for us. Let them love us. Doing so does not make us weak. Women who are submissive and love their husband's through the grace of God are the strongest, fiercest things on the planet. Go back to letting God's will for your life be enough. You will find peace, joy contentment. The more we let go of our culture and society, and give ourselves to God's will, the more our joy will grow. The verse says my cup runneth over. I know it does not run over every day, all the time. Don't you love the moments when it does though? Don't you want more of those moments?

Forget women's lib...what a crock! Dig into God's Word...Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Genesis, Psalms. You will be very, very surprised at how little God left to the imagination on marriage. Stop trying to do it all and just do what God wants from you!

Ultimate Spectator

I recently stopped watching the news..with the exception of a little Weather Channel. That may not sound like a big deal, but for a girl who only watched Fox, CNN, ESPN, and The Weather Channel it has been a major change. I didn't do it for Godly reasons...ha ha! Well, at the time I didn't realize it was God.

One particular weekend the broadcasting and reporting was pretty bad. All the major networks were reporting the same story, but the guests who were invited to speak, and even the anchors, were so ignorant of the topic it was nauseating. I thought...there isn't news anymore. It is all about sensationalism. What can we say and do to get the biggest reaction?

Well, that weekend I decided that was it...no more. I haven't watched for close to a month. Guess what? My life did not end. My world did not collapse. The more I lose touch with the www the more in focus my own surroundings have become. Over the weekend, my son prayed for the victims of the India airplane crash. I had no idea what he was talking about. In that moment, God said, "You had become the ultimate spectator."

You see nothing new is going on in the world today. There is no cycle that has not already been repeated. However, the media allows us an awareness of what is going on all over the world. Fifty years ago most of us would have no idea about the devastation in Haiti or what the Koreans were up to.

Now we sit around staring at our T.V.'S and computer screens worrying about everything but doing nothing. I pray for those in Haiti. I pray for those in N and S Korea. What am I doing for my family? What am I doing for my neighbor? What am I doing for my co-workers. There is certainly nothing wrong with praying for the world, but watching and worrying is not a ministry.

The world has become the ultimate spectator. We have stopped relating and stopped living in order to observe. The problem with that is it is not living. It is certainly not fullfilling the purpose God created me for. Not watching the news has been refreshing and enlightening. I can either observe, or I can live.

What about you?